BAPTISTRY ( BATTISTERO )

The Baptistry of San Giovanni, one of the most ancient churches in Florence, sits opposite the city's cathedral, the church of Santa Maria del Fiore.

Dante called this Baptistery il "bel San Giovanni". It is one of the most beautiful examples of Romanesque architecture in Tuscany. 

The people of Florence in the Middle Ages believed that the Baptistry was an ancient building dating back to the time of the Romans, a pagan temple converted into a church.

The building we see today is the result of an earlier baptistry, dating back to the 4th or 5th century AD, being rebuilt on a grander scale.

The Baptistry has an octagonal plan with a pyramid roof. The facing of green marble from Prato and white marble from Carrara in geometric design (13th century ) harmonises the exterior with the volumetric architecture of its interior.

Of great interests are the three Bronze Doors. The first ( 1330 ) on the south side, is by Andrea Pisano, a work which marks the beginning of Florentine Gothic sculpture; the second ( 1403-24 ) on the northern side, is again Gothic, by Ghiberti, who was preferred to Brunelleschi who had presented a project that it was already in Renaissance style at a competition held in 1401; the third ( 1425-52 ) , on the eastern side, is again by Ghiberti who had by then learned something of Renaissance style and applied the rules of prespective for the first time.

 The first door illustrates Stories from the life of John the Baptiste and the Cardinal and Theological Virtues; the second illustrates  Stories from the New Testament, the Gospels and Doctors of the Church; the third, also known as " Door of Paradise" is a series of ten panels describing Stories from the Old Testament. The originals are preserved in the Cathedral Museum.

 As you enter the building , your attention is immediately drawn by the precious mosaics in the Dome. The mosaics are dominated by the huge figure of Christ in Judgement, with scenes from the Last Judgement occupying three of the Domes's eight segments. The horizontal registers superimposed in layers tell the stories of St. John the Baptist, of Jesus, of Joseph and of the Creation of the World. The Angelic Hosts occupy the hightest register of all.